As far as national holidays go, St Patrick’s Day is probably one of the most widely celebrated holidays outside of Ireland. Literally speaking and normally with a particular emphasis on celebrating. This year’s St Paddy’s Day spirits are significantly dampened though by the ongoing and shocking shenanigans of a despotic hooligan in Ukraine.
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Indeed, it is three weeks today since this illegitimate invasion began. And while St Paddy is said to have banished (figurative) serpents from the island, it remains to be seen if Ukraine and Ukrainians will survive the unprovoked mauling by a rabid bear, left alone banish it. And what we others intend to do about it, apart from opening borders and sending first aid kits.
Lest one forgets the European Union (EU) itself is a Nobel Peace Prize (2012) winner for having “contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy, and human rights in Europe”, originally sprung out of the smoldering ash and ruins of WWII – Council of Europe, European Coal and Steel Community, European Economic Community before becoming the EU in 1993. While Ireland remained unscathed from the ravages of WWII, it too has had its share of both ancient and more contemporary troubled history complete with an unruly neighbour and internal strife.
An unhappy coincidence is that as invasive troops and tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border, yours truly landed in peace at Dublin airport to start a week-long “workacation” campaign – the first such in five years, almost to the day as it turned out. As an ex-pat, it was heartening to find that some things hadn’t changed much – a full Irish breakfast is still totally vegan offensive complete with black and white pudding, while Barry’s tea tastes as strong as ever it did with the added bonus that the tea bags are now biodegradable.
What had changed a lot over the five years is how bioenergy has come along, as evidenced by a whirlwind bio-Irish tour of people and companies all doing things in the Irish biomass to energy space – biofuels, combined heat and power, biogas, woodchips, firewood, pellets, and pellet boilers – as opposed to just talking about them. All the lowdown on the who, what, where, when, why, and how will be the stuff of coming issues and articles.
This bio-Irish tour was made possible thanks to the kind assistance of colleagues at the Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA), who at very short notice conducted the introductory ask with the companies, and of course the people at the companies themselves who were able to oblige. All took time out of their busy schedules to show me around, sit down and chat in the office or at the kitchen table with a cuppa – heartening too is that the famed Irish friendliness and genuine hospitality remains unchanged amidst times of upheaval.
